September is the one month when both productions at Aspendos are running. The International Aspendos Opera and Ballet Festival has a fixed and very short 2026 window — 12 to 26 September, on selected event nights that fall on Mondays, Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Fire of Anatolia has a much longer run, playing on selected evenings each week through the summer and early-autumn season, with your exact date confirmed when you book.
That asymmetry is the whole planning question. One is a two-week festival you have to travel around; the other is a weekly fixture you can slot into almost any summer holiday.
The opera and ballet festival: a fortnight, not a season
The festival is staged by Turkey's State Opera and Ballet inside the 2,000-year-old Roman theatre and has run since 1994, drawing around 100,000 guests a season. Every performance begins at 21:00, and the evening excursion runs about four hours: we collect you from your hotel in the early evening, drive out to the theatre, and bring you back after the final curtain, so you reach your hotel late at night. Your exact pickup is confirmed with you individually the day before.
The price is €45 per adult and €30 per child aged 8 to 12, with infants up to 3 free. That includes the festival ticket in Category 2 seating and the return transfer. Category 1, nearer the stage, is an optional upgrade. Reservation is free, you pay on the day, and you can cancel free of charge up to 24 hours before.
If your holiday dates do not cross 12–26 September, this one is simply not available to you, and no amount of flexibility changes that. Plan the trip around the fortnight or take the other show.
Fire of Anatolia: the show that is there most of the summer
Fire of Anatolia puts over a hundred professional dancers on the stage of a 2nd-century theatre built for some 15,000 spectators. It also begins at 21:00, with a short intermission, and includes the Semah, a ceremonial dance of the Alevi-Bektashi tradition. There is no spoken dialogue at all, which is why it works for an audience arriving from a dozen different countries.
It runs on selected evenings each week during the summer and early-autumn season — tell us your preferred date and we confirm the nearest performance. Tickets are €65 per adult and €30 per child, and you choose whether to add round-trip hotel transfer from the Antalya, Side, Belek, Kemer or Alanya areas or to make your own way there. Reservation is free, payment is on the day of the show, and cancellation is free up to 24 hours before.
One thing worth clearing up because it is asked constantly: the Fire of Anatolia record states that the Troy show is not part of the 2026 Aspendos programme, while the Troy listing still shows performances on selected Tuesday evenings from early August to the end of September. Our own records disagree, so we confirm what is actually playing on your dates before you commit — reservation is free either way.
What an Aspendos evening is actually like, in any month
- The seating is ancient stone. Original tiers, unnumbered, first-come. There is no backrest and no cushion. Many visitors bring a small one, and we recommend it without embarrassment.
- Bring a light jacket. The theatre is open-air and evenings there can turn cool even in summer — and a September night after 23:00 is cooler still.
- Unnumbered means arrive with time. Transfer guests are delivered with room to choose a spot. If you come independently to Fire of Anatolia, come early or take what is left.
- Cameras are controlled at the gate for Fire of Anatolia — flash and professional equipment may be refused.
- The finish is late. Both shows start at 21:00 and you get back to your hotel late at night. That is the single biggest thing people underestimate.
Who should not book an Aspendos night
If you have an early flight, an early tour the next morning, or small children who fall apart after 22:00, this is the wrong evening. The festival takes bookings from age 8, and the late finish suits older children best; Fire of Anatolia is family-friendly and children's arena entry is free, though on a transfer option a child still needs a paid seat in the vehicle and security may ask for ID.
If mobility is a concern, talk to us before booking. The venue is listed as wheelchair friendly, but the ancient stone stairs are genuinely uneven, and we would rather tell you that now than at the gate. And if strong sound and stage lighting are difficult for anyone in your group, Fire of Anatolia is a loud, brightly lit production — that is worth knowing in advance.
Pick your night
Reserve the Aspendos Opera and Ballet Festival with hotel transfer if your dates land inside the September fortnight, or Fire of Anatolia at Aspendos if they do not. Both sit with the rest of our ticketed evenings on the shows, parks and tickets page.
Building the rest of the week around it? The Antalya day trips comparison shows what pairs well with a late night, the best time to visit Land of Legends covers the region's other big evening, and day or night at Land of Legends is the same timing question in a different venue.